1. Sometimes your heart rate rivals that of a racehorse— remember that you’re not in a race. Breathe slower; think slower. The world moves fast enough.
2. You were not born to carry the world on your shoulders.
3. Everything happens for a reason— there is a divine plan in place. If you look closely, you can see the borders of the puzzle. You can see each piece settling into its place. Know that you are also settling into your place, even if the whole picture hasn’t yet been revealed.
4. Others’ perception of you has very little to actually do with you. It is not your job to be palatable, to be dainty, to be condensable into something bite-size and picturesque. If they cannot fathom your magnitude, it is not for them to fathom.
5. Distance really does make the heart grow fonder.
6. “Do small things with great love.”
7. Words lacking purpose seldom make their way into our collective consciousness; cliches are cliches for a reason. Listen to them.
8. Every word in a sentence has a purpose. Every sentence in a phrase has a purpose. Everything has a purpose. Pay attention to it all.
9. “There is no fear in love.”
10. Infinities are made up of individual moments. Moments are made up of individual infinities. Cherish it all, the big and the small.
11. Don’t let fear destroy relationships. Speak with intention. It shows that you listen. It shows that you care.
12. Be the shoulder your thirteen-year-old self needed to cry on. She is gone, but there are so many just like her. Care for them, as you would yourself. Care more.
13. Good company makes bad food taste a little better. Good people make the life you live a little sweeter.
14. Sometimes you need to look people in the eyes and tell them you love them. It matters more than you know.
15. Others will not always afford you the same compassion you afford them. You are not responsible for how others treat you. You are responsible for how you treat them.
16. Everyone deserves kindness.
17. Anger can be productive, but don’t sit in it too long. Take a small weekend trip into the fury, but once the time is up, give it a kiss on the cheek and a quick wave and make your exit. You do not want to live in the rage; pay a visit and learn a thing or two, then pack your bags and say goodbye. You have better places to be.
18. Vulnerability is power.
19. Every moment is infinitely important. Don’t wake up one day and wonder if your best days are behind you; they are always ahead. Time waits for no one, and you shouldn’t want it to.